Spring for vehicles.



No. 878,429. PATENTED FEB. 4, 1908. R. H. STEVENS & T. HALL.

SPRING FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED 13110.28. 1900.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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No. 878,429. PATENTED FEB. 4. 1908. R. H. STEVENS & T. HALL.

SPRING FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 26, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1H: ucnms PETERi ca, WASHINGTON, 0. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD HENRY STEVENS, OF OHIGWELL, AND TIMOTHY HALL, OF ROMFORD,ENGLAND.

SPRING FOR VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 4, 1 908.

Application filed December28. 1906. Serial No. 349.911.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Rronann I'IENRY STEVENS, subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at Chigwell, Essex, England, and TiMoTnY HALL,subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at ltomford, Essex,England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in orRelating to Springs for Vehicles, of which the folloeing is aspecification.

Our invention relates to vehicle springs applicable more particularly toroad vehicles and the said invention provides a novel combination withthe ordinary metal springs of air-cushions arranged in telescopicprotective casings. It is already known to employ air-cushions in roadvehicles to improve the smooth running of the vehicle, but suchaircushions have not heretofore been combined with the ordinary metalsprings in the manner hereinafter described so as to enable the metalsprings to continue to serve their purpose even should the air-cushionsbe deflated.

The telescopic casings in our invention are arranged longitudinally ofthe vehicle one in conjunction with each metal spring, and one part ofeach casing is secured to the metal spring and the other part to theaxle. By this arrangement if one or more of the aircushions shouldbecome deflated, the body of the car would still be supported by theordinary metallic spring or springs so that it would only be necessaryto deflate the air cushion or cushions on the opposite side of thevehicle in order to restore the body of the vehicle to a suitablerunning condition. This deflation will take place automatically if theair-cushions are interconnected as hereinafter described.

The telescopic casings for inclosing the air-cushions each consist oftwo shells preferably of metal one of which slides in the other, meanssuch as anti-friction rollers being provided for reducing friction atthe places where the driving force is transmitted from the body of thevehicle to the axle, or vice versa.

In the accompanying drawing, we have shown how our said invention may beconveniently and. advantageously carried into practice.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the telescopic casing and itsinclosed aircushion, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the lineX,'X, Fig. 1. Flg. 3 1s a view showing the improved combination of ametal spring and an air-cushion applied to a road vehicle.

Like letters of reference denote correspond ing parts in the threefigures.

A denotes the ordinary metal spring which is bolted to the box or casingB which contains the air-cushions C. Within the box B is a sliding partD which can slide freely within the box, the two parts B, D together'lorm ing the telescopic casing which completely incloses theair-cushion (J. To facilitate the movements of the part D the same isprovided with rollers It, E that roll on the end walls of the box B andmake the movement easy and free. If necessary additional rollers can beprovided on the box B to bear on the part D near its upper edges orcorners.

F is the axle shown bolted to the sliding part D of the telescopiccasing.

G, G are transverse rods or bolts supporting the sides of the box B. Theupper pair of these transverse rods also limits the expansive movementof the telescopic casing. The end wall I) of the box B is made removableto admit of taking out the air-cushion and reinserting it when desiredwithout interfering with the vehicle; the valve II of the aircushion isshown projecting through the sliding part D of the telescopic casingwhere it can be easily reached for inflating purposes. In order thebetter to protect the air-cushion we prefer to make the sides of thepart1) somewhat taper as shown.

In some cases, the air-cushion or bag C is made of flexible butnon-extensible material and of rounded or oblong form, so as not toextend near to the edge of the inner part of the casing relatively towhich the outer part of the casing moves, thus avoiding wear of the saidcushion or bag by the relative motion, and also preventing nipping ofthe cushion or bag between the said edge and the wall of the outer artof the casing.

It will be unc erstood that one such arrangement as that described willbe combined with each spring of the vehicle, and the same may beindependent of each other and be inflated separately.

As shown in Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings, springsA and casings B,D containing air-cushions C are shown superposed between the vehiclebody K and each of the axles F. If desired however, the several airbagsused on a vehicle may be put into com munication with each other througha suitable pi e or pipes so that they may be pumpec u simultaneously. Orif desired the air-cus ions above the rear wheels of a four-wheeledvehicle may be connected together and the air-cushions above the frontwheels may be connected together, since it may be desired to carrydifierent weights on the front and rear wheels respectively. In sucharrangements valves are preferably provided to enable the severalair-cushions to be cut off from communication with each other after theyhave been pumped up. Gage-marks may be rovided on the relatively movableparts of the telescopic casings to indicate the extent of inflation ofthe aircushions. The inflation may be effected by a hand pump or by apump driven by the motor of a motor-vehicle or through suitable gearingfrom one or more of the wheels of the vehicle. By our said invention,solid elastic or other tires may be used without causing undue vibrationto be transmitted to the body of the vehicle.

T'Vhat we claim is 1. The combination of a vehicle body and axle, ametal spring, an air cushion, a telescopic casing inclosing saidair-cushion and comprising two shells which are elongated in thedirection of the length of the vehicle and which fits loosely one withinthe other at their sides, anti-friction rollers for connecting saidshells and transmitting the horizontallyacting tractive forces from oneshell to the other, means for securing said metal spring directly to oneof said shells, and means for connecting said metal spring and saidcasing in their united condition between the axle and the vehicle body,substantially as described.

2. The combination with a vehicle body and an axle, of a metal spring,an air cushion,

a telescopic casing containing said air cushion and comprising inner andouter parts, rollers arranged to reduce frictional resistance torelative motion of the parts of said telescopic casing, one wall of theouter art of said casing being removable, means 'or securing said metalspring directly to one part of said casing, and means for connectingsaid metal spring and said casing in their united condition between theaxle and the vehicle body, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a vehicle-body and axle, a metal spring, anair-cushion, a telescopic casing inclosing said air-cushion andcomprising two shells which are elongated in the direction of the lengthof the vehicle and which fit loosely one within the other at their sidesand of which the outer shell has a removable end-wall, anti-frictionrollers for connecting said shells and transmitting thehorizontally-acting tractive forces from one shell to the other, meansfor securing said metal spring directly to one of said shells, and meansfor connecting said metal spring and said casing in their unitedcondition between the vehicle and the axle-body.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

RICHARD HENRY STEVENS. TIMOTHY HALL.

Witnesses:

JOHN THOMAS KNOWLES, HERBERT ARTHUR BEESTON

